Earlier this week I went to a meetup called “Blockchain in Supply Chain with IBM.” The presenter was Kurt Wedgwood, IBM North America Blockchain Leader.

The event was hosted at the University of Memphis’ UMRF Research Park (a.k.a. “Communitech”). I’ve already been to a few events at Communitech and it is a great space!

Introductions

The presentation was split up into three parts. First, Kurt discussed blockchain use cases in the supply chain industry. For example, IBM has the Food Trust initiative. Food Trust uses the blockchain to track the location and status and location of food producs.

Total Recall

Second, we broke out into groups to brainstorm other ways blockchain could be used in the supply chain issues. I worked with a group focused on the pharmaceutical industry.

We specifically explored how blockchain could be used to improve pharmaceutical recalls. We envisioned a permissioned blockchain that would streamline communication between consumers and manufacturers when a recall takes place.

Wrapping Up

Finally, we shared our ideas and provided feedback to each group. I really enjoyed hearing about all of the different ideas. They ranged from using the blockchain to transact advertising bounties, to creating a system for ensuring coffee quality.